Main image of article Will Personal Loans Be a New Perk for Tech Workers?

Could employee loans be the next big perk? Peer-to-peer lending marketplace Lending Club has reportedly been wooing the likes of Google to offer such a service. “The program we’re putting in place gives the ability for large companies with lots of employees to make loans to their employees and use their treasury reserves, on which they are earning like 1 or 2 percent, and put them to work,” Lending Club CEO Renaud Laplanche said in an interview with AllThingsD. “At the same time, they would be offering a lower interest rate to their employees than what they’re paying on their credit cards or other loans they have,” he continued. “It’s really an HR benefit and recruiting tool.” Google’s new late-stage investment fund Google Capital recently led a $125 million investment in Lending Club, but the company told AllThingsD that there is no deal in the works to offer loans to employees. Still, Lending Club expects to land some big corporate clients in 2014. We’ve heard of some pretty wild perks being offered by startups to send out that fun and wacky vibe to job candidates, and older tech companies have been jumping into the fray. The SAS Institute, for instance, has a one-acre sustainable farm supplying the company’s four cafeterias, and Cisco offers on-site car maintenance. Lavish perks don’t necessarily translate into employee loyalty, though. Employee tenure at Google, known for its free food, gym memberships and other sweet deals, is only 1.1 years, according to a recent PayScale analysis.